Doctor of Medical Science

Welcome to the Doctor of Medical Science Program.

A little over 56 years ago, the first class of three former Navy medical corpsmen graduated from the Duke University Physician Assistant Program. In what began almost ten years before as a novel concept to address a national shortage of medically trained personnel, the role of physician assistant became a reality. During those formative years, our profession sustained significant growth and continues to evolve today.

We are entering another transformative era as healthcare systems adapt healthcare delivery to the Whole Person Health model to improve patient-centered outcomes. Opportunities for PAs to help expand patient access to healthcare continue to arise through policies such as “Optimal Team Practice” and model legislation for the PA Licensure Compact. Moreover, the number of PA programs has more than doubled over the last 15 years, requiring increasing numbers of PAs to fill faculty roles. This transformative era is a call for more PAs to serve in leadership roles, whether in healthcare professions education, healthcare systems leadership and management, the government sector and healthcare policy, or other roles in research and development, such as medical affairs.

For PAs who wish to pursue leadership roles or expand career opportunities by seeking a direct pathway to a doctoral degree, our Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc) degree is the only program that promotes integrative whole person health throughout its core curriculum in the foundations of both healthcare systems leadership and management and society and population health, while students pursue a concentration in either Health Professions Education or Society and Population Health. Our vision is to prepare PAs to excel as effective leaders of the interprofessional healthcare team and improve patient outcomes through the integrative whole person health approach.

Our 100% online delivery format with structured asynchronous courses is designed to fit into your full-time working schedule and support you as you progress through your journey of earning the Doctor of Medical Science degree. We look forward to being a part of your future career endeavors.

Deanna Oliver, DMSc, MSPA, PA-C

EProgram Director, Doctor of Medical Science
SSouthern California University of Health Sciences